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Migration from Nesna

Isak Johan Larsen and Maren Christiane Andersdatter had eight children, six of whom would eventually migrate to the United States. Only the oldest (Anton Edvard) and youngest (Anna Elisabet) would remain in Norway.

The exodus apparently began with Jacob Johan. He was listed as the owner of two farms (Myklebostad and Nordbostad) in the 1886 Norwegian Land register, so he may have sold the farms to finance his trip. He departed Trondheim on 16 May 1888 on the Wilson line ship Hero, just 7 months before his father passed away. At that time, emigrants from Trondheim sailed to Hull, England and then traveled to Liverpool, London, Bremen, Glasgow or Bristol by train to catch boats for New York, Halifax, Quebec, Philadelphia or Baltimore. I have not been able to trace his movements through England or identify when and where he entered the United States. Correspondence attributed to Norman Lorentzsen says that Jacob settled in the Washington state area where he lost his wife and child in childbirth.

Benjamin Isakson

Next to depart was Benjamin Nicolai, who left Trondheim on 04 Sept, 1889 also traveling on the Hero. His wife (Eilerine Kristine Ingebriksdatter) would make the same trip on theJuno, departing on 10 June 1891 with her daughters Anna Ellisabet (3 years old) and Karen Aalberg (11 months). Benjamin apparently settled into his new life in North Dakota quickly: by 1901 he had homesteaded and obtained title to land in Lamour County from the US Bureau of Land Management.

Isak Martin Pedersson (son of Kristine Marie and Peter Andreas Larsen, who would themselves travel to the US in 1910) left Trondhiem for Lisbon, ND on 18 May 1898 on the Tasso.

Ivar Anker Lorentssen (son of Lorents Andreas) reportedly left with his wife Antonette Marie Olsdatter in 1901 (according to his record in the 1920 and 1930 US census).

Hans Isakson

Hans Emahus left his wife and 7 children behind when he made the trip in April of 1903. The Hertigruten began operating regularly scheduled shipping in 1893, so it is possible that he traveled south to Trondheim on one of these ships. He departed Trondheim on the 21st on the Allen line’s Tasso with his nephew Otto Kristian Lorentssen (son of his brother Lorents Andreas).

The ship visited Kristiansund and Ålesund, reaching Bergen two days later. It then stopped at Stavanger before finally reaching Hull, England on April 28th or 29th, where it appears that they separated.

Several million European emigrants flowed through Hull on their way to North America between 1848 and 1914. Their visit to England was usually brief and uncomfortable: they would remain on-board their ships until the train that would take them to their port of departure was ready. For more information about Hull see ‘Migration from Northern Europe to America via the Port of Hull, 1848-1914’ by Nicholas J Evans.

Hans departed from Liverpool on the SS Ionian on April 30th, arriving in Quebec at 2 am on May 8 and Montreal on May 10. His stated destination was Englevale, North Dakota, a small town established in 1893 near Verona and Fort Ranson that has since ceased to exist. It is not known how he traveled there from Canada or who he initially stayed with.

Sons Ludvig and Anton departed on 24 February, 1904, on the Salmo for Hull, then traveled by train to Liverpool and arrived in Boston on 12 March 1904 aboard the Cymric. Hans’ wife (Inger Helene Andersdatter) and two daughters (Dena and Petra) departed Norway on August 20 of the same year on the Tasso and arrived in Boston on the S.S. Cretic on September 17. Daughter Olina departed 14 Feb 1906, also traveling on the Tasso. Two daughters would remain in Norway: Kristine Antonette and Marie Albertine.

Leonard Pedersson (another son of Kristine Marie and Peter Andreas Larsen) left Trondhiem for Lisbon, ND on 24 February 1904 on the Salmo.

Elias Nicolai left Trondheim on the Salmo on 17 Oct 1906, 11 months after the death of his mother (who was living with Elias in 1900 according to the census records). I believe that he was married to Anna Mathea Eliasdatter and had a daughter (Elise Marie Bang) at the time but I have been unable to find any additional information about them.

The Jacob Johan trail picks up again in 1900: He is listed on the 1900 census living with his brother Benjamin in Black Loam Township, La Moure County, North Dakota. According to Norman Lorentzsen, he moved to North Dakota from Washington, bought some property from his brother Benjamin, and married Emma. Their children began to arrive soon thereafter: First born were daughters Erna (born about 1912) and Elnor (born about 1914), followed by a son Edwind (born about 1916) and another daughter (Marie, born about 1918). All of them were listed in the 1920 census, living in Black Loam Township, Lamoure County. Arnold, a second son, was born about 1925, and the family (with the exception on Erna) still lived on the farm at the time of the 1930 census.

In 1909, Benjamin Nicolai returned to Norway to visit for the winter (see My Father: Ludvig Johan Angel Mortensen Mehus). He apparently returned early in 1910 (he was back home on April 27 according to the US Census records). On May 20, 1910 his sisterKristine Marie, her husband Peter Andreas Larsen and others from the Nesna area traveled on the Oscar II, arriving at Ellis Island on May 31. Kristine Marie’s sons (Isak Martin and Leonard) were already in the US. Her oldest daughter Eva Johanna arrived at Ellis Island on 18 June 1916 (ship: Bergensfjord), and the youngest (Kristine Antonette) died in Norway in 1974. Martha Dorthea died in the United States, but I do not know when she came across.

Lorents Isakson

Lorents Andreas departed Trondheim on 08 Feb 1915. His wife had died the previous year, and sons Ivar Anker and Otto Kristian were already in the US. Sons Hilmar Krough Moeller and Vilhelm Andreas and daughter Kaspara Jonette all apparently died in the United States, but I do not know when they emigrated.